Former executives of now-defunct Smart Choice MRI eye expansion with new imaging center chain
Former executives with now-defunct Smart Choice MRI are eyeing expansion with a new chain of outpatient imaging centers, those involved announced Wednesday.
Atlanta-based ImageLink already has 14 locations across Georgia and Ohio, while a 15th recently opened in Boynton Beach, Florida. Rick Anderson, previously Smart Choice’s chief executive, will serve as CEO of the venture, alongside fellow alums in finance and marketing.
The diagnostic imaging management company is seeking growth through purchasing existing hubs, rather than Smart Choice MRI’s previous focus on building brand new centers.
“We’re on the lookout for businesses we can acquire to be part of the ImageLink family because you can deploy those much faster,” Anderson told Radiology Business. “They already have a built-in base of business and so going and opening up new shops, in markets that have never heard of or seen your brand, was hard. Very hard at times. We were successful in certain markets, but others were difficult.”
Founded in 2006, Smart Choice was established around price transparency amid a rise in high-deductible health plans and cost-conscious consumers, offering MRIs for a $600 flat fee. The group grew from a single site in Wisconsin, garnering tens of millions in investments and considering expansion to 70 locations at one point. But the firm sold its assets to the provider group formerly known as the Center for Diagnostic Imaging in November.
Now renamed as Rayus Radiology, the private equity-backed group purchased and converted four former Smart Choice MRI locations in Wisconsin. Meanwhile, the dozen other remaining sites in Minnesota, Illinois and the Badger State were shuttered. Anderson declined to disclose the purchase price but noted the two groups had overlap in their service areas, necessitating the closures. Smart Choice signed a no-compete clause as part of the deal, which will dictate where ImageLink seeks growth. Currently, Rayus does not operate in Ohio nor Georgia, while its Florida turf is clustered closer to Orlando, according to its website, with ImageLink’s newest location situated in South Florida.
“Nothing went wrong, but what it comes down to is, when a competitor like CDI felt threatened by us in the markets we served—Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota—they made us an offer that the shareholders decided was a really good opportunity,” Anderson said. “Sure, there are parts of it that are sad. You think, well, we could have opened more, done more, expanded into more markets. But that's a lot of what we're looking at here at ImageLink: a fresh start with an existing group of 15 well-capitalized clinics.”
Rayus Radiology declined to comment when reached Wednesday.
Anderson said ImageLink’s privately held owners approached him about the role around early 2021. The firm is championing a “patient-first approach,” offering accessible retail locations, ease of scheduling, transparent pricing and spa-like environments. ImageLink was first founded in 2015 as a Georgia-based “diagnostic concierge service” and in 2018 merged with longstanding Ohio radiology services provider Precision Diagnostic Imaging, according to an announcement at the time. Beyond Georgia, the company’s CEO cited Michigan and the Carolinas as other possible targets for growth.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.